I have always been mesmerized by stained glass. Its intricate beauty and the workmanship required to create it take my breath away. And as anyone who has ever really looked at stained glass knows, it only achieves is true potential – its utmost beauty – when light shines through it.

It reminds me of the power of grace in our lives.

Every person walking on this planet is broken. We’re all composites of brokenness. Some of us have endured or are enduring circumstances that have shattered us. We feel like we are only a pile of shards with no hope to ever be restored.

Others who have endured shattering trials and have come out on the other side stronger and more beautiful know the secret of stained glass: Broken pieces, shattered hearts, shattered minds, and shattered lives can be restored. Life can become beautiful again.

And grace is the agent that makes that beauty possible.

When I think about stained glass grace, I think of grace as the copper foil and solder that holds the broken glass pieces together. Grace does that. It seeps into our broken places and holds us together. It connects us. It transforms our brokenness into something beautiful.

This is a gift of God the Redeemer and Restorer. And our part in the restoring process is to be open to grace and the countless ways it can show up in our lives. A kind word. The right book or podcast or video. Wise counsel. Prayer. Intercession. Forgiveness.

God uses these forms of solder to restore our broken pieces. His grace – and only His grace – makes the broken beautiful. In my head stained glass is the visual of the promise of Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.”

It takes no small amount of courage to open your heart and your will to the divine soldering iron. But the simple “yes” to grace is all that is required for the work to begin.

And in that work – the stained glass grace work – that happens on the inside, an even more remarkable thing begins to happen: Light emerges. His light. His light shines in and through the broken places made beautiful by grace. And our brokenness – our shattered vulnerability now made beautiful – attracts others. And we share our stories.

And in the sharing of stories, in the sharing of testimonies, in the vulnerable grace-infused lives we lead, we become the grace-solder for another broken person.